You name it, we got the blame. Sometimes a distinction was made between the‘ little Jews’ and the‘ big Jews’ in finance, media and politics. Superficially, that may appear less antisemitic and more rational, but it is still an antisemitic worldview, in which the Jews are committed to subverting and overpowering others on behalf of Jews everywhere. It literally defines Jews as being the demonic‘ Other’, always set against the rest of society and humanity.
This is the psychological seduction of antisemitism. It gives a scapegoat for what has gone wrong. It excuses your own failures in life, whilst making you feel brave and intelligent for having spotted the true powers that pull the wool over everyone else’ s eyes.
In Britain today, Jews have moved on, both physically and socioeconomically from where we were in the pre and post-World War Two era. The antisemitic hooligans that I and others fought against have not moved on, but their main targets are now the latest immigrants within striking distance, whether those are East European, Muslim or African.
What, however, of the psychological attraction of antisemitism? The world is a highly complex and troubled place. People still need to make sense of it, and modern communications and globalisation make the appeal of catch-all explanations even greater.
So, when I hear and see people in modern far Right, far Left, Jihadist and New Age settings uniformly blaming the‘ Zionist media’, or‘ Zionist politicians’, or‘ Zionist money’ for the ills of society, I know where that language and thinking comes from. I also know where it ends up, with the rhetorical anger and rage being taken out on Jews. At the very least, all Jews risk being subject to special scrutiny and suspicion, in case they are one of these uniquely evil and conspiratorial‘ Zionists’.
That is one of the biggest changes in British antisemitism in my lifetime of fighting it. Post-war, when people were antisemitic, they knew it and they meant it. Nowadays, half the time when people are antisemitic, they don’ t know it, they say they don’ t mean it, and if you tell them how you feel, it is you who might end up the outcast.
Crucially, this occurs against a European backdrop in which many Jewish community leaders are openly saying that there is no meaningful future for their communities. A combination of antisemitic terrorism and the daily grind of antisemitic remarks and hostilities have brought them to this point. Far too many anti-racists maintain a deafening silence on this, and what does it say about post-War Europe that it can’ t even keep its remaining Jews? For those reasons, the lesson I take today from the Holocaust is the same as I took fifty years ago. We will defend ourselves and we are proud to do so. Others are more than welcome to join us in that defence, but we cannot and will not wait for them.
Gerald M Ronson cbe – 9